The administration building, named after the Transmuter-Meister Chen Yeyao, was recently refurbished with a fresh coat of cream and cherry, which seemed to be a popular colour motif for most of Fudan's historical architecture. Concurrently, as if to mask the unsavoury palate, a thirty-meter high sheet of vines had taken residence across half the building, gifting the faux-Georgian architecture an incidental air of antiquity.
Gwen and Petra entered through the foyer and found their way to the campus residences department, bypassing streams of administrative staff, mostly NoMs with the occasional Mage. Behind the chest-height counter, three NoMs sat hammering away into tablets, working through stacks of paper. Taking a ticket, the girls took a seat to await their turn. A sign indicated that the stall closed at 1600.
'203' their ticket read. The current counter was 188.
With nothing else to do, Gwen retold some of her life in Sydney with Hai Song, only for Petra to reveal that she knew more about Gwen's father than Gwen herself.
"He was famous before he uprooted himself and left Shanghai. Even my Master speaks of him. By the age of sixteen, Hai was already shortlisted for the PLA's new generation of committee officials."
"Power to him then, but I don't think Dad would have made a good leader," Gwen complained of what she knew of Hai. Petra's face took on a frosty expression when she elaborated on her father's infamous exploits with women.
"That explains... a lot."
"Oh no." Gwen grimaced. Holy shit, did her dad try to hit on Petra, his niece?
"No, no!" Petra grimaced back. "Gwen! I mean, my Master and your dad, I suppose they were once acquainted, in a way."
Gwen felt her cheeks twitch. Petra's Master was only five years younger than her babulya.
"Now Serving 189..."
Twenty minutes later, the counter ticked over.
"Bloody St Augustine..." Petra cursed under her breath. "The bureaucracy! It's 1435, and they close at 1600! Gwen, wait here."
She pulled herself from the visitor chair and made straight for the counter.
A woman behind the counter looked up toward Petra. She had the appearance of incumbent admin anywhere, which was a bored, soulless, middle-distance gaze.
Petra glared at the NoM woman, menacing her with steely Siberian husky-eyes until the NoM stammered a response.
"We're inundated." The poor woman quaked beneath Petra's presence, swallowing in rapid succession. Gwen wondered at her cousin's act, then realised that Petra was likely exerting some of that Moscow menace she had learned while training to be a Tower agent.
Behind the quaking woman, a staff member took a gander at Petra, made an abrupt turn, then executed an Expeditious Retreat.
"I-I'll serve you now!" the woman stammered, unable to take the pressure from her cousin's presence.
"No! You do your job!" Petra stated coldly. She turned to the crowd. "189! Where are you?! Get over here!"
The young man who'd just stood up a moment ago held his ticket as though he was wrangling a snake. "Er… you can go first."
"Are you sure?" Petra walked over to the stunned young man and waved her '203'.
"Y-yeah, please."
"Here's mine in exchange, thanks. If there's anything I hate, it's queue jumping."
When her cousin broke her icy exterior to flash a pleasant smile at the young man, his entire face turned scarlet. Gwen could have sworn the poor man's knees knocked loud enough to make a sound.
"Gwen, with me." Petra turned to her. Gwen lifted herself from the couch with an immense sense of pride in her Russian cousin.
"This is my cousin, Gwen Song. She's the current holder of the mid-year LCSS. She and her companion, Richard Huang, also a member of the LCSS, require lodging at the Student's Quarters. What are your current vacancies? We're looking for long-term and single dwellings only."
The woman pulled up a stack of files and sifted through the list as if her life depended on it.
"Starting second-semester, though any vacancies now would be good." Petra urged in a tone that possessed a jagged edge.
"Please." Gwen smiled at the woman politely, flashing her a sympathetic smile.
"Let's see…we have a shared room in the upper campus." The woman pulled out a file and placed it in front of them.
"A single, if you will, or rather, two singles." Gwen clarified her request. "Privacy for both myself and my fellow LCSS member is paramount. Or we can double up."
"You and Richard can't co-habit, by the way," Petra pointed out. "The dorms have mixed gender, but the rooms are single-sex."
Under Petra's watchful supervision, the poor woman produced a dozen or so vacancies currently available, none of which matched Gwen's needs.
"When do you expect to have more clearance?" Petra tapped the forms. "Anyone leaving when the current semester ends?"
The woman produced a few more potential vacancies, though none would suffice.
As the list reached the last card, Gwen felt immense gratitude for Petra's help, who had saved her from wasting two whole hours.
"There's n-nothing left…" the woman groaned.
"That's alright," Gwen said sweetly to the woman, tugging on Petra's sleeves to urge her to leave. "Thank you for your time."
As the girls' silhouettes faded from sight, the tension in the room visibly dissolved.
"190!"
"191!"
And somehow, work efficiency seemed to reach a new peak as well.
[https://i.imgur.com/hg5cY37.png]
"What now?" Gwen asked.
"We'll try the more expensive Dorms; these are privately owned and rented out to students."
The girls cleared the administration section and approached the lower part of the Campus near Guoding Road.
"Which one's yours?" Gwen asked out of curiosity. "Don't you live near here?"
"I do. About fifteen minutes walk from here. Master set me up in one of the dorms just outside of the square."
"There wasn't room on campus, even for you?" Gwen inquired curiously. Petra had been here for almost two years now, technically longer, considering she came when she was fifteen and started under Wen as a research member when she was sixteen.
"There was, but..." Petra explained patiently. "I am not fond of the rowdiness of the campus dorms. I think if Babulya puts a word in with the Dean, you might even rent for free. Although, I doubt the Bursary can kick people out on your behalf. That would invite trouble from the ethics committee."
"Right." Gwen followed Petra through the gardens at the Qinyun building, a marvel of curved glass and soaring steel wings. As an eye-catching pair, the girls meandered dashingly across the square, brightening many a Fudan students' day.
Their destination was a real estate office with 'WMR Properties and Conveyancers' as its title. They were greeted by an elaborate model of the surrounding district stretching for a dozen blocks in the foyer.
"Is Manager Xie in?" Petra asked the fresh-faced NoM receptionist. "We're looking to rent two single rooms. As close to campus as possible."
"Miss… Kuznetsova?" The reception quickly glanced down before looking up with a smile like the blooming of a rare flower. "Of course! I'll get Manager Xie right away. One moment."
Petra found a couch and sat, crossing her legs and reminding Gwen of halcyon days hanging with her high rolling girlfriends in Sydney.
Manager Xie, a short, balding man with a face like a pudgy Buddha, came to greet them a few minutes later. His eyes formed two narrow slits when he saw the two girls lounging comfortably in the company's crimson tub chairs.
"Milly! No tea?!" he scolded the receptionist, who immediately ran to provide the beverage. "Miss Kuznetsova! Are you happy with your current lodgings? Looking to upgrade? Please pass on my most sincere greetings to Master Wen."
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"I am satisfied with my lodging, Manager Xie. Thanks for asking," Petra replied. Gwen couldn't help but note that Petra's voice had a natural coldness, not unlike her Affinity for Elemental Mineral. "This is my kinswoman, Gwen Song, a newly enrolled member under the LCSS program. We are looking for two rooms, singles, if possible, for herself and a family member, Richard Huang, also a young scholar of the LCSS program."
"I am in rare company." The Manager bowed. "Please to make your acquaintance, Miss Song. May I ask what Clan or House you hail from?"
Gwen shook the Manager's hand. "Gwen Song. I am... an independent, for now. I'll be in your care."
"Of course. May I inquire as to your budget range? As Miss Kuznetsov would know, our rooms ranged from single to shared, service or unserviced, self-contained or shared facility. All of course, with a range of rates to suit your needs."
"Give me a list of the single options under 100."
To Gwen's surprise, the NoM manager possessed a small Storage Ring from which he retrieved a data slate. A few simple somatic gestures on the screen later, the man turned to show Gwen the displayed vacancies on the E-ink slate, etched upon an off-white parchment.
B17-111 :: 35 HDM / M
B22-1114 :: 30 HDM / M
B24- 404 :: 25 HDM / M
The prices were acceptable to Gwen, but turning to the map, she noted that B17 was already six blocks from Fudan. It would mean an extra twenty-minute walk in a town where students packed buses like sardines. Unhappily, Gwen had also crunched the numbers and now knew that her monthly expenses, including lodging, food, textbooks, socials, and training, were likely in the hundreds.
"Can Richard and I share a privately-owned double?" Gwen turned to Petra, who shook her head. "I am afraid not; the real-estate cannot register cohabitation for unmarried Mages. It's a rule to prevent incidents."
"Not even with family members?"
"The Sect-Clans would love that." Petra joked.
Manage Xie chuckled nervously beside them.
"Is there anything closer?" Gwen pointed to the buildings within fifteen to twenty minutes away from the centre of the campus, where the Henglong Building and the Towers stood.
Manager Xie tapped the screen again.
B1 P2201-P:: 520 HDM / M
Gwen almost spat out the tea that Milly had just served them.
"Where is that?" Petra asked out of curiosity. "I didn't know B1 had vacancies."
"The penthouse suite," Manager Xie said with reverence. "It has four bedrooms, each self-contained, with a common lower mezzanine living with open kitchen and shared dining; the upper storey has a common entertainment-living room."
"I don't think I can afford that." Gwen shook her head, thinking that she probably could afford such a place in her old world if she so desired.
"I know, but I always offer," the Manager said jovially. "One day, maybe, who knows? There are many wealthy students in Shanghai."
"So there's nothing?"
"I am afraid B17 and beyond is all we have at the moment. There may be a few openings at the end of the year, I am more than happy to reserve what's available."
"Can I make a reservation now?"
"With a deposit, yes."
"Then please put me down for one closest to campus."
Manager Xie instructed his receptionist to bring a deposit slip and a reservation form, which Gwen signed and paid, handing over a sum of 50 HDMS per reservation, one for herself and another for Richard.
The closest vacancy that seemed to be available in January was B13, still some months away, but if that was the best Xie could offer, then that was what she must take while living on borrowed generosity from the Wangs.
"How about you bunk with me?"
Frustrated with the lack of space mid-semester, Petra advised staying at her studio. She was confident she could squeeze another mattress into her single room if she had to. With the tone of a mother hen, Petra advised that though Shanghai was a safe and lawful city, it still wasn't so safe for a girl-Mage like Gwen to gallivant through its districts without care.
"That's where I live, B3-703." Petra pointed to one of the buildings a block away from the university campus. "Well lit paths, regular patrols by the Chengguan, not too far from the convenience mart on the Boulevard."
As it was late, the girl found supper at a local Sushi Train, with Gwen ordering enough for two, attracted a small group of spectators who marvelled at the foreigner's ability to pack away a stack of plates taller than herself.
After their early supper, Gwen followed Petra back to Magister Wen's laboratory, where she withstood three hours of Goulding's Primer before tottering home half-drunk with knowledge.
Inside Mina's apartment, she found Richard making ramen.
"Oh shit, sorry, Dick, I should have doggy-bagged some sushi!" Gwen apologised as Richard combined two packets into a bowl.
"No worries. Not a fan of raw fish. Besides, I haven't tried this flavour before, 'Black bean beef'. It looks interesting." Richard shrugged at Gwen's neglect. "You want some? It comes in a six-pack."
Gwen hesitated. Was she currently capable of getting fat, she wondered? Couldn't just fire a few Void Bolts into the air to burn off calories? Unconsciously, her hand moved to her abdomen, where she could feel her skin taut against the musculature. Maybe, she thought, just a taste?
[https://i.imgur.com/hg5cY37.png]
Gwen drank the last of the salty soup.
The instant ramen was better than she thought.
The word instant was also a bit of a misnomer since whatever arcane method which preserved the ramen allowed it to retain the chewiness of its texture and the richness of the bone broth.
"... So, unfortunately, no luck," she explained their plight to Richard.
"We could live further away. Or, at worst, I can live far away, and you can stay with Petra. I'll come if you need me, anytime, anywhere."
"Aww, thanks, Richard. Okay, enough about that. How was work?"
Her cousin happily explained that he worked with a construction crew as a specialist consultant. With Lea's guidance, he could part the Huangpu, or more precisely, a three-by-three meter portion of it so that foundations could be laid by the Transmuters working by his side. Thanks to his high-tier Affinity, he could predict changes in currents and work within a high-depth environment, all the while conserving mana.
"Had to save a guy as well," Richard described with nonchalance. "Some fish-lizard that's mostly mouth and stomach got past the barrier and attacked one of the Transmuters, dragged him into the river. That was a close one."
"A Monster got into the city?!" Gwen raised a brow in surprise. "I thought the Capitals are free of Magical Creatures."
"Our site was about fifty kilometres out; you can't even see the city from where we were." Richard orientated Gwen as to the geographic bearing of his story.
"According to Reese, my foreman, it happens every other week. The further away from the city, the more frequent it happens. That's why there are Purge-quests on the regular. We can do some if when you're free."
"But NoMs are living there, right? Upstream from the river?"
"Oh yes, millions. Tens of millions. Maybe even a hundred. Shanghai itself is about 20 mils if I recall. Up to 50 million if you include Suzhou to the west, Nantong up north, and Hangzhou toward the extreme south. A day out, and it's the Frontier, and then it is the Wildlands until you hit Tianjin."
"The Frontier's closer than I thought," Gwen noted, trying to picture a map of China from her memory of the old world.
"Was Sydney better? We used to get swarms of Tiger Sharks up the Parramatta River while ferries were in the water! In Shanghai, it'd take 3 hours of Flight before human settlements fade out."
"Do you reckon Sydney will recover?" Gwen asked, thinking of the city she used to call home. The Parramatta river must be two kilometres wide by now, courtesy of a Leviathan. The once tranquil river could probably now serve as Sydney's premier deep-sea port.
"Sure, Gunther has it well in hand. He's got big plans, you know."
"Any ideas?"
"Nothing specific." Richard laughed. "I do know that he's planning to rezone the whole city. Maybe you can ask him when your LR Communication Caster is set up."
Gwen couldn't help but be impressed by the news. Could Gunther achieve what was necessary to make Sydney a Tier 1 city? What plan did Gunther have in beating back the Mermen? How could he tap into the ley-lines of the land? Could the Morning Star cow the Mermen by setting the seas to boil?
For a student like herself, the prospect of a Tower Master forging a Frontier into a first-tier city was something more akin to a strange and magnificent dream.
* * *
Gwen arrived at the Lab early next morning, ready to face the first of her tests requested by Magister Wen. When she entered the laboratory, she was met by Petra and Magister Wen, both in white coats and looking very much like scientific researchers from her old world.
"Gwen, you're here. Wonderful." Wen motioned for her to come closer. "We're going to start testing your Elements today. Petra tells me you can manifest some form of Vitae-Fruit mana congelation?"
"I can." Gwen nodded. "Would you like a demonstration?"
"I would like a sample." Wen pointed to three Spell-Cubes Petra had prepared on a stainless steel desk.
"One Elemental Lightning, one Void and one of the vitae-essence, if you will."
"I'll do my best."
Gwen approached the table and placed her hand on the first cube. She tapped into her Sigils and allowed the free-flowing energies of the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Lighting to fill her mana channels, feeling their hysterical caress as the torrent of electricity fed into the vessel.
The next one was Void, and Gwen grimaced as the ice-cold energies of the Quasi-Elemental Plane shot ramrod through her body, seeking an escape into the material. Her volatile excretion cascaded like viscous ink within the cube's interior, hungrily consuming the space within until the entire cube was darker than black.
"Good God…" Magister Wen sucked in a chilling breath. "I can feel it from here. So this is Elemental Void. Amazing."
Gwen then closed her eyes and focused inwardly upon her mind's eyes, picturing Almudj's energy as the green motes of life flowing through the dark expanse of her Astral Form. Almudj's primordial manifestation slowly condensed around her hand, dripping drop by drop into the vessel below as though filtered through layers of fabric.
"Fascinating." Her cousin placed a hand above the cube. "So much vitality! What do you think it is, Master?"
"I would hazard an educated guess that it is an alter-form of life-force, the kind usually found in ancient beings. Do you recall Magister Salinger's lecture during that conference in Beijing? He had invited a Druid from Tryfan, the Grove in Wales, England. Do you remember what it was like when they demonstrated Essence Magic?"
"I do." Her cousin retracted her hand and continued to observe Gwen's endeavour. Inches away from the crystalline contraption, Petra's Master likewise watched the growing intensity of the emerald cube with burning anticipation.
Gwen felt the last of her vital energy drop into the cube.
Then immediately acknowledged that something was wrong. A breathlessness of the soul suddenly claimed her body, as though she had sprinted up a hill, and now the air was too thin to sustain the oxygen she required to catch her breath.
Feeling a mild panic, she refocused her mind's eye.
Slowly, very slowly, the emerald motes inside her Astral Body restored themselves. However, through the trained synaesthesia of her mind's eye, Gwen could sense that the emerald motes were dimmer, weaker. Their recovery seemed almost a trickle where prior the specks had pulsed to the rhythm of her heart.
Her body felt cold.
Yet, her mind felt flushed.
Acutely, between her breasts, she felt an absence.
It was the Kirin Token.
A piece of her flesh.
An organ.
Could it be? Her mind revolted with agitation. Had she made a mistake? Should she have acted more selfishly?
"Gwen!" Petra grabbed her shoulders. "What's wrong? You're turning as white as a ghost! Is it the Void Cube? Did you put too much vitality into filling it?"
"Give her a potion," Magister Wen drew a potion injector from a hidden drawer.
"No, no, I am fine." Gwen looked past Petra, once again taking in her bearings.
Her body felt weak.
She felt weak.
"Gwen, what's wrong?" Petra asked worriedly. "You don't look fine at all."
"Pats…" Gwen swallowed, forcing her quickened breath to return to a controlled cadence. "I think I might have made a big mistake."